Brake controlled throttle lock



A 1949- H. DU CHARME 2,477,865

BRAKE CONTROLLED THROTTLE LOCK Filed July 18, 1946 INVENTOR. flare/0 au [ha/"me 44 TTORNEYS' Patented Aug. 2, 1949 UNITED- STATES PAFEINE'F 0FF I E nnnnecon'monnnn 'rnno rrne': 1500B;- Harold-i du'Gharmc, Grosse Bointe Michm- Application" .luly' 18;, 1946; serrarna 6843407 4C1airnst (01. 192-3) invention relates to-a brake controlled throttlIe-l0ck; particularly to a" throttle permits setting the controls to run theengine at an achieved speedfl It ef-temhappens that the driver or an automobile wantss tasetthe throttl'e so' that-the vehi--- cle cperatescontinuously" at thespeeddecided upon-- without further attention to-- the throttle This is-pazrticularly true-of driving on thewide; open, western pl'aihs-of'the United'States, wherethe -roads are straight: and thetrafiic is often sa light that only a; few-other automobiles maybe enccuntered several hundred miles. Under thesecircumstances; fatigue of the throttlefoot may be -avoided -by-setting the-throttleto hcldat asatisfactoryyspeed assoon as that' speed is withoutany afiirmat iveactby'the driver other emergency brake lever to-- the' on or set position: 1

It is-the object ofthi-sinventiorrto providean engine throttle" which may be set" to" hold the? engine at a speedreached by the vehicle; but. in? which the'speed -may be increased above the: set" minimum without upsetti'ng the previous" speed selection, and in which actuation of either the" main operating brakes (Jr-the emergency brake releases the throttle.setting mechanism to permit return of the throttle to engine idling position.

In"; the drawings: r

Fig. 1 is a schematic showing oil-the invention and the relatedwparts 01.. an. automotive; vehicle,

and

FiEJZZiSlEt view in section onllhe 2-2 of Fig; 1

cazrburetoris. indicated generally at 2 hav ing': a: butterfly type throttle valva 4. Throttle valve: 4151's oonnectedhtabe. actuated by throttle levenfi; Leven Bis-connected to be operated-by accelerator pedal- 8-throug-h any suitable=fiex-ible connections such as the cable-and wire assembly A? toothed member, such as th'euack I 253 con nested to -be--moved-by operation of "throttl'e -lever' 6. The operation is accomplished through a lost motion connection I4 comprising strap [6 which is secured at its one end to the throttle lever 6 and is connected at its other end to have sliding engagement with rod I8. Movement of strap I6 relatively to rod I8 is resisted by spring 20 which abuts at one end on strap [6 and at its other end;v orrcollar'fil' Arnut or other suitable collan M at; the end of rod' Hi limits movement of strap it relatively" to rod l ft toward: the right, seem in Fig. I.

The toothedmiember: L2 is mounted to "recipro catebetween: two plates 26 and 28' oi a: fixture-in which is? mounted a lockzmember 30.: Lock mem ber 30: conveniently takes thetformof a plate having a knife edgeslpositioned 'to engage-the rack I21. As isbestseenin Fig; 2, 1ock' member 30' is biasedi. toward engagement with: toothed" member lz by springs 3 1 Lock; member 31!: is 'held' out of engagement with the toothed member; by-a-holding: member;

the wire 'ancl cable i -Z11 Springs 4w anddfi 'are disposed to hold thekey-ifi 'and button l ll 'respe'c'e tivel y' in the position:- shownin- Fig; 1.

A brakekdrum- 48=mounted on the vehicle-wheel (not sho'wn) is 'engagect by brake band fllli- The brake band is actuated by pedal 52 through-any suitable; connection; A cam member 5'4 is mountedf0n reciprocation in the plates 26; 28 and '3U" by-'opera tion=of pedal 523 The operative connection is efiected -preferably by means of a wire and; cable-arrangement 56'; Iii desired, a secondoam member 58- (see Fig:

2) may-be providd adjacent'thecam 54'. Cam

58" will bc connectedtto be' act 'ua-ted by the emer gen'cy lever lill by -means of wire and cable-"62"? The conne'ction irom emergency brake l'everfill to the emergency brake is notshown;

Operation In" operation: ofithe. invention, when the driver reaches. a. speed: at whichl he desires to drive steadily for-a period of time, he pushesbuttonflll gtorpush key:363out-0f 'engagemenfiwitlrloclemem her 3 0';- permitting the loch memlf-er to be pulled= by"springs 34 into-engagement with toothed member l-2-i Thedriver'cam then take-his foot off-the accelerator and the throttle valve 4F will 3 I8 as throttle lever 5 moves the throttle valve 4 into a wider open position. If thereafter the driver removes his foot from the accelerator pedal, throttle lever 6 and strap l6 return to the previously set position, holding the vehicle at the previously selected operating sped.

If the driver should wish to release the entire throttle setting mechanism, he need only depress brake pedal 52 slightly, causing cam 54 to lift lock member 30 out of engagement with the toothed member, permitting key 36 to snap back into the position shown in Fig. 1. The same result will be accomplished by movement of the emergency brake lever. Thus release of the throttle setting mechanism is accomplished automatically by actuation of either brake-i. e. the main operating brakes of the vehicle or the emergency brake.

I claim:

1. A vehicle engine throttle control comprising throttle actuating means, vehicle decelerating means, a rack connected with said throttle actuating means, and a locking mechanism associated With said rack comprising a locking plate yieldingly urged into engagement with said rack to hold the throttle in a given operating position for a selected vehicle speed, means slidably supporting said plate for movement into and out of locking engagement with said rack, manually operated means to lock said locking plate out of engagement with the rack, and means operated by operation of the vehicle decelerating means to raise said locking plate out of engagement with said rack, and spring means urging said manually operative plate locking means into locking engagement and efiective only when said locking plate is raised to maintain said locking mechanism in an inoperative position.

2. A vehicle engine throttle control comprising throttle actuating means, vehicle decelerating means, a rack connected with said throttle actuating means, and a locking mechanism associated with said rack comprising a locking plate yieldingly urged into engagement with said rack to hold the throttle in a given operating position for a selected vehicle speed, means slidably supporting said plate for movement into, and out of locking engagement with said rack, manually operated means to lock said locking plate out of engagement with the rack, and means operated by operation of the vehicle decelerating means to raise said locking plate out of engagement with said rack, said manually operated means comprising a plunger, said plate having an elongated hole through which said plunger projects and is normally engaged to hold said locking plate out of engagement with the rack, said plunger having a portion of reduced dimension, spring means acting on said plunger and normally positioning that portion of the plunger of larger dimension in said elongated hole in the locking plate, said plunger being axially shifted to position that portion of the plunger of reduced dimension in said elongated hole in the locking plate whereby to permit the locking plate to move into locking engagement with the rack and engage the face of the locking plate against the shoulder on said plunger, whereupon the spring means acting on the plunger will be efiective to 4 urge the enlarged portion of the plunger into the hole in the locking plate only when same is raised to align said hole with the enlarged portion of said plunger.

3. A vehicle engine throttle control comprising throttle actuating means, vehicle decelerating means, a rack connected with said throttle actuating means, and a locking mechanism associated with said rack comprising a locking plate yieldingly urged into engagement with said rack to hold the throttle in a given operating position for a selected vehicle speed, means slidably supporting said plate for movement into and out of locking engagement with said rack, manually operated means to lock said locking plate out of engagement with the rack, and means operated by operation of the vehicle decelerating means to raise said locking plate out of engagement with said rack, said rack having a lost motion connection with the throttle actuating means allowing same to be advanced beyond the given operating position, and spring means urging said manually operative plate locking means into locking engagement and effective only when said locking plate is raised to maintainv said locking mechanism in an inoperative position.

4. A vehicle engine throttle control comprising throttle actuating means, vehicle decelerating means, a rack connected with said throttle actuating means, and a locking mechanism associated with said rack comprising a locking plate yieldingly urged into engagement with said rack to hold the throttle in a given operating position for a selected vehicle speed, means slidably supporting said plate for movement into and out of locking engagement with said rack, manually operated means to lock said locking plate out of engagement with the rack, and means operated by operation of the vehicle decelerating means to raise said locking plate out of engagement with said rack, and spring means urging said manually operative plate locking means into locking engagement and effective only when said locking plate is raised to maintain said locking mechanism in an inoperative position, said locking plate supporting means comprising a pair of spaced plates slidably supporting the locking plate therebetween and having aligned holes respectively supporting the said locking means for said locking plate and the locking plate raising means.

HAROLD no CHARME.

REFERENCES CITED The following referenlces are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,864,881 Abel June 23, 1932 1,897,357 Bellis Feb. 14, 1933 2,014,854 Lothrop Sept. 17, 1935 2,033,821 Ellery Mar. 10, 1936 2,034,253 Shelley Mar. 17, 1936 2,076,460 Heinrich Apr. 6, 1937 2,127,454 Wolfe Aug. 16, 1938 2,243,354 Musser May 27, 1941 2,364,092 OConnor Dec. 5, 1944 

